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It was late at night when Melina finished what she was doing on the computer. She saw the light on in the living room. She knew it wasn’t Alexei, she could hear him snoring in the bedroom, and she knew it wasn’t Yelena because if it was the TV would be playing some cartoon.
“Can’t sleep big girl?” She asked gently entering the room and finding Natasha on the couch, knees up to her chest and her forehead resting on her knees.
“I don’t want to go back.” She sounded so broken and it hurt Melina.
“I know, but we will. We must. If we don’t, we will have S.H.I.E.L.D. after us, they will stop at nothing and will not hesitate to count you and Yelena as casualties lost in the crossfire. If we don’t go back, we will be running from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Red Room. For now, just enjoy the moment. Commit the feelings and sights to memory. Let them keep you whole when it is time to go back.”
“But I’m not whole now…”
Melina sighed and wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her to her side.
“You want to know the key to surviving there? You do what you must and you don’t look back. If you need to kill, take comfort in knowing that their suffering will be over. Killing them is a kindness.”
Natasha slowly nodded as she digested the information.
“What else is keeping that sharp mind of yours from resting?”
Natasha looked over at the bedroom door to her and Yelena’s room. “She can’t go in. She’s too little.”
Melina clicked her tongue. This was difficult.
“What happened your first day there?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“You don’t remember?”
“No.”
“What is the first day there you remember?”
“I don’t know, a couple years ago.”
“A couple? Two? Three?”
“Four. Four years ago.”
“So you don’t remember being there until you were 4?”
“No.”
“But you were there since you were an infant. Maybe a week old. If you can survive there for 4 years without remembering it, doesn’t that mean Yelena is not too little? Besides, you will be there too. You can look out for her.” Melina offered. “Tomorrow, you’ll stay home from school and we’ll have a relaxing day. Sound good?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Now if anyone asks, you have chicken pox. Is your brain calm now or should we see what is on TV?”
“Let’s see what’s on TV.” Natasha cuddled into Melina as her Mama reached for the remote and turned the TV on.
After going to a few channels and finding only news broadcasts or infomercials, Melina put in a random VHS tape.
After about ten minutes Melina felt Natasha go heavy in her arms and smiled as she pulled a blanket down from the back of the couch and wrapped it around the redhead.
Twenty minutes later Yelena came out rubbing her eyes and pouting.
“‘Tash’s gone.” Yelena looked over at her Mama.
“She’s not gone. Come here. Come lie down with us. No school tomorrow. You and Natasha have chicken pox.”
“Okay.” Yelena yawned cuddling into her Mama and closed her eyes.
…
Alexei just finished his morning exercise when he entered the kitchen for a coffee. He spotted Melina on the couch with Yelena and Natasha both asleep cuddled into her sides.
“Why aren’t they in their beds?” He asked with a whisper not wanting to wake the girls up.
“Long night. When you go to work, mention you are tired from being up with them all night. They have chicken pox. Natasha had it first, and then Yelena caught it. Yelena’s case is mild. Natasha has been having a high fever. We’ve been checking her temperature every few hours before giving her more medicine.” Melina carefully moved away from their daughters.
“Okay. I’ll make to sure drink extra coffee there and mention it.” As he waited for the coffee pot to finish he opened the fridge and took out a package of bacon. “Will you be joining me or waiting for them?” He dumped the entire package into the pan.
“I’ll wait for them but go get a shower and shave. I’ll keep an eye on your bacon.”
“Oh, we still have pork chops?”
“We do.”
“I’ll have two breakfast pork chops as well.”
“Okay.” Melina got the pork chops out of the fridge and added them to a separate frying pan, in a third, she cracked four eggs.
With nothing to do now but wait for the food to finish, she decided to move the girls to their bed.
She started with Natasha who as soon as Melina placed the young girl’s arms her neck felt her grip her shirt on her back.
“I’m sorry. I’ll be good. Promise.” She muttered in Russian. When Melina laid her down in her bed, Natasha instantly curled up in on herself.
Yelena, as soon as she was tucked into her bed, spread out completely. Melina couldn’t help but wonder if after this mission was over, would Yelena start curling up on herself in bed too.
…
Natasha woke up with Yelena lying on top of her reading a picture book softly to herself.
“Finally! Mama said I couldn’t wake you up. Why weren’t you in bed last night?” Yelena leaned her head back so she could see Natasha’s face without saying anything.
“I just couldn’t sleep so I went to watch TV. You’re upside down.”
“You should’ve woke me. We could’ve watched together.” Yelena pouted.
“Next time I will.” Natasha promised.
“Come on, Mama said when you woke up we can have whatever we want for breakfast. We should have Mac n’ Cheese.”
“Sounds good.” Natasha grinned getting up and following Yelena out.
“Mama said we have chicken pox. Is that like chicken nuggets?”
“I don’t think so. Mom, are chicken nuggets like chicken pox?”
“No. It’s a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It can cause an itchy, blister-like rash. The rash appears first on the chest, back, and face, and then spreads over the entire body. But it’s okay. You’ll stay home for a few days, rest up and we’ll have fun. Now, breakfast, what are we having?” Melina explained placing a kiss on the top of each of their heads as the girls sat down at the table.
“Mac n’ Cheese!”
…
Melina was keeping an eye on Natasha, looking for signs that the little girl was unwell. What she saw was, that Natasha was solely focused on Yelena. Melina reached over and started to lightly scratch at the base of Nat’s skull in a way she knew that Natasha found comforting.
Melina wanted to pack the car one night while Alexei slept, she wanted to pack up everything for Yelena and Natasha and disappear, she knew how to, it would be difficult with 2 children but Natasha knew enough not to be a hindrance. It was possible. They would need to hide from S.H.I.E.L.D and The Red Room. If she could find a basic-looking trailer and truck she would be set. Education could be a concern but given the laws in America, she could home-school them as they are on the run. She knew their best chance would be to get out while it was still spring.
It would be easier if Alexei came with them but she knew he longed to return.
She needed to run through their options, if they were caught, would it be held against the girls? If her actions would only result in her own suffering she would attempt it, but the risk that the Red Room would torture Natasha and Yelena worse than what was already in store for them wasn’t worth the risk.
“How about I ask your Dad to pick up a movie on his way home?” She suggested getting Natasha’s attention.
“Any movie?”
“Any Children’s movie.”
“Tiny Toon’s!” Yelena excitedly yelled.
“Natasha? What one do you want?”
“Home Alone?”
“Okay, I’ll go call him. You two watch your cartoons.”
…
Alexei came home with pizzas and movies.
“I got your movies and a few others. This one is about a pirate and Princess they said, seemed popular and this one is a cartoon about bunnies.”
“Thank you Daddy.” Yelena grinned hugging him and taking the bag of movies.
The family gathered around the TV, Natasha and Yelena on the floor, plates with pizza and salad in front of them. Two pop cap bottles of Sunny D resting at their sides.
“We're waiting for the clock, to strike three, when it's three o'clock, we'll be free!” The cartoon pink and blue bunny sang on the screen.
…
“How do you forget your own child?” Alexi muttered.
“They threw out a plane ticket when they cleaned up the milk.” Melina added.
“And she counted someone twice so she got the same number.” Natasha felt Melina’s approval of her observation.
“I’m gonna ask Santa for a trip to Paris.”
“Santa doesn’t give trips Yelena, he gives toys.” Natasha rolled her eyes.
“Okay, I’ll ask for a can of paint on a string. Then we can use it as a trap for Santa the next year.”
“That is pretty clever.” Alexei grinned.
…
After they watched both films Melina declared it was time to get ready for bed.
After a quick bath and their regular nightly routine, Melina and Alexei tucked Yelena in first, then Natasha before each sitting on one child’s bed.
“Now instead of a bedtime story, I’m going to tell you all about this great big adventure we’ll go on one day.” Alexei started. Natasha looked over at Melina with a look of pure betrayal.
Natasha didn’t even hear Alexei continue to describe what would happen, it wasn’t until it was just her and Yelena in the dark room that she started to come back to the present.
“I can’t wait to go on the adventure!” Yelena excitedly looked over to Natasha.
“Don’t say that.” Natasha scoffed turning her back to Yelena.
“But I can’t! It’s gonna be so much fun! I wish we were going tomorrow!”
“Shut up Yelena! Just shut up!” Natasha snapped. “Stop being such an idiot!”
It wasn’t until she heard Yelena’s quiet sniffles did she actually started to feel guilty for her outburst. It wasn’t Yelena’s fault she had no idea what was waiting for them but Natasha couldn’t bring herself to apologise. A part of her was hoping that this feeling would stick with the idea of the adventure and Yelena wouldn’t want to go on it anymore.
It wasn’t until she heard Yelena climb out of bed and walk out of the room did Natasha turned away from the wall. She grabbed her blanket and put her shoes on deciding she was going to sleep in the treehouse. She just needed to be alone.
“What are you doing?” Alexei asked raising an eyebrow from the couch.
“I’m going to sleep in the treehouse.”
“Take a sleeping bag, and in the morning you are apologising to your sister.”
“She’s not my sister. You’re not my Dad. This is all fake. It’s just a mission.” She muttered before Alexei grabbed her arm tightly.
“Don’t even start. You never know who’s listening.” He hissed lowly in her ear before shoving her towards the hall closet where the sleeping bags were kept. “This was going to be a surprise but in two weeks we, as a family, are going to be joining some of my co-workers at a cabin. Can you be trusted to behave or are you going to be sick for that?”
“I’ll behave.”
“That’s my girl. Have fun in your treehouse don’t stay up too late.”
…
When Natasha was about to fall asleep Melina came up in the treehouse.
“Yelena’s okay. She’s worried about where you’re sleeping and to be clear you are not sleeping out here. You can sleep on the couch if you want some space.”
“I want to warn her…”
“I know, but you can’t. It won’t do any good. Let her enjoy this time. Enjoy it yourself. You need to learn to live with this. Get in the car we are going on a drive.”
“To where?”
“Does it matter? Go get in the car.”
…
Melina pulled off into the woods, the car parked and hidden from view. She grabbed a bag from the trunk and waited for Natasha to join her.
A part of Natasha’s mind was yelling for her to run, that it wasn’t safe and Melina was clearly going to murder her, but she also knew a dead kid drew a lot of attention and that was against their mission.
Melina, understanding Natasha’s worry, took out the pistol and held it out for her to take.
“Come on, you’re going to show me how rusty you are.”
…
Melina carried a fast asleep Natasha in from the car moving to tuck her into her bed.
After an hour of shooting, Natasha was relaxed enough to break down crying in Melina’s arms.
It should be fine. She told Natasha how their mission wasn’t time-related but information-based. They could be there for one more week or 10 years.
Alexei looked at Melina when she exited their girls’ room.
“Do we need to worry about her?” Alexei questioned.
“No. She wouldn’t do anything that would risk Yelena’s safety.”
…
A week later Natasha was doing her homework at the table while Melina was in the living room helping Yelena with her reading. Alexei was in the backyard grilling up supper. Natasha was struggling with cursive. Reading English as a second language in print was hard enough but to add what looked like an entirely new alphabet was proving difficult for her. Yelena was lucky, she couldn’t read in Russian.
After Natasha’s lead on her pencil snapped she threw it across the kitchen making it clatter in the sink.
“Natasha, come out here. You can flip the burgers.” Alexei called through the window.
Natasha took the cue and headed out to help Alexei. As she passed Melina grabbed her arm for a second and pulled her down for a quick kiss to her forehead.
“Why the commotion?” He asked as she settled next to him.
“Cursive is hard.”
“Ah. Take a break, when you come back to it, it won’t seem as bad. Now take the spatula and flip the patties whenever you think they’re ready.”
“What if I do it wrong?”
“Then you do it wrong and we have a weird-tasting meal and eat more sides and desserts than usual.” He shrugged. “It’s not life or death.”
“At the cabin, you can help grill up the deer we hunt.”
“We’re going to go hunting?” Natasha asked him excitedly.
“Well, the men and boys. It’s a tradition. I don’t know what the daughters do…”
“So I can’t go hunting? I know how.”
“I don’t think so.”
“That’s stupid.” She huffed.
“Well you’re burning the patties right now and that is pretty stupid too.” He teased.